Russian Railways complains about Aeroflot's low-cost airline

13:31 February 6, 2014RBTH

Federal Passenger Company (FPC), a subsidiary of Russian Railways, has complained to the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) about the new budget airline Dobrolyot, which is owned by Russia's flag carrier Aeroflot.

Russia's rail monopoly Russian Railways, which runs the country's entire railroad network, took an exception to the way trains are described on air company's website, including in such passages as: "Are you tired of lengthy, inconvenient train rides and of high air fares? We are, too."

The complaint is signed by FPC CEO Mikhail Akulov, who is also vice president of Russian Railways. FPC insists that statements on Dobrolyot's official website discredit its competition, including FPC, and are in breach of the federal law on advertising. FPC points out that "passenger air services compete against passenger railway services."

FPC filed its complaint on January 27, 2014, and will be processed within 30 days, the FAS press service says. The Dobrolyot press service declines to comment, saying that the company "has not been officially notified by FAS about the complaint."

Aeroflot registered Dobrolyot on October 10, 2013. The low-cost carrier plans to operate flights from Moscow to St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Sochi, Samara, and Yekaterinburg. Its initial fleet of eight Boeing 737-800 narrowbody airliners may eventually grow beyond 40 aircraft. Dobrolyot is expected to be based at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.